


To Show You The Horror Of Staying Alive

by Latte_Hottay



Category: Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Post-Canon, Stabbing, Torture, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23682997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latte_Hottay/pseuds/Latte_Hottay
Summary: Paul tries to help Emma escape from the aliens but they get caught.Title is from The Torture Tango (Spies Are Forever)
Relationships: Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Kudos: 22





	1. Pretending

**Author's Note:**

> THERE'S LOTS OF VIOLENCE IN THIS FIC DO NOT READ IF THAT'S A TRIGGER
> 
> I wrote this just because I wanted to write a torture fic so it's not the best :)

Paul and the other aliens dragged Emma down the halls. Emma screamed and kicked until her throat hurt and her left leg dragged behind her, aching from the pressure she had put on it when trying to run away from the man she thought she could trust. “Paul, please! Don’t do this!”   
  
Paul leaned forward. “Emma, it’s okay,” he whispered in her ear. “Just play along.”    
  
In sync, all the aliens let her go. She stumbled into Paul’s arms. Paul protectively put his arms around her, shielding her from the danger.   
  
“I think Paul is trying to trick us,” Ted spoke up.   
  
“That’s not something a true member of the Hive does,” Nora said.   
  
“It’s inevitable?” Paul sang hesitantly.    
  
“Liar,” Bill said, clearly not convinced. “The Hive doesn’t like liars.”   
  
Some of the infected came closer to them. Paul pulled Emma closer to his chest. Emma could hear the footsteps slowly come closer. The aliens were everywhere, there was no way they could run, especially with her fucked up leg.    
  
Someone grabbed Emma’s collar and pulled her back, separating her from Paul. Paul tried to grab her wrists and keep her with him, but Ted knocked him in the head with something Emma couldn’t identify. It didn’t look hard enough to concuss him, but he had to blink a few times before he started fighting again, and Emma was already out of reach.   
  
The nurse led the way as some aliens dragged Emma and Paul farther down the halls. Emma looked into some rooms, all the beds were empty, most of them had either red or blue stains on them. She wanted to run. Run and never come back. Too bad she couldn’t, even if it wasn’t for the four aliens holding her.   
  
But she was Emma Perkins. And Emma Perkins would never give up without a fight.   
  
She pulled one of her arms back, surprising the aliens who were holding her. They let her go and Emma did a few steps, but her leg gave out underneath her. She cursed under her breath.   
  
“Emma!” Paul screamed, trying to get to her, but he got stopped by Ted, who pulled him back by his hair.   
  
Nora and someone else grabbed Emma’s arms and dragged her away. “No! Stop!” she screamed.   
  
They led them to the basement of the hospital. Emma didn’t even know the hospital had a basement. Those bastards were lucky to have nurses and doctors on their side.   
  
A nurse unlocked a door and went inside. Nora and someone else were holding Emma, while Bill and Ted were holding Paul. About forty other aliens were all standing in the hall. If professor Hidgens had been right, they shared one brain. That would mean that everyone knew what would happen to Paul and Emma. Everyone, except them.   
  
The nurse came back, carrying a few boxes. Emma couldn’t see what was in there, but she didn’t know if she wanted to. “Let’s go.” the nurse said, leading the group out of the hospital.    
  
After a few minutes of walking, a sharp pain shot down Emma’s leg. It gave out underneath her, and apparently the aliens thought it was an attempt to escape, because they grabbed her by her arms and legs and started carrying her. Emma screamed when Nora touched the bandage around her left leg, but they didn’t let her go.   
  
Paul was trying to get to Emma, but Ted and Bill held him tightly.   
  
They led them to the police station, one of the cops opened the door and led them to the cells. Emma was still being carried by four aliens, and she almost couldn’t stand the pain in her leg anymore. She was almost happy when the aliens laid her down on a bed in one of the cells. They left the room and Paul got pushed inside. The aliens left without saying a word. The door closed with a loud bang and she could hear it getting locked   
  
Emma looked around the cell. It was empty, the only things in the room were a desk and two beds. Paul sat down on Emma’s bed. He grabbed her hand. “Are you okay? How’s your leg?”   
  
“Well, my painkillers are starting to wear off and I Nora held my leg so tightly that I doubt the stitches are still in place, but apart from that I’m good. What about you? How the fuck are you still alive?”   
  
Paul chuckled awkwardly, “I’ve lived among them for two weeks, they thought I was one of them. When I heard they were coming for you I offered to be the one to infect you. I thought I could run away with you, I didn’t expect there to be so many others.”   
  
“Why didn’t they just kill us?”   
  
Paul sighed, “I have no clue, but I guess we’re stuck here for now.”   
  
Emma chuckled, “I didn’t expect you to become my roommate this soon.” Paul’s cheeks flushed red. She weakly punched his arm. “I’m kidding.”   
  
Paul’s lips twitched up in a smile. “I can’t believe you survived the blood loss.”   
  
Emma shrugged, “I have no fucking clue how I did it, I passed out not long after you left, PEIP probably found me and brought me to Clivesdale.”    
  
“And now we’re stuck here.”   
  
“There’s no way I’m dying in fucking Clivesdale.”   
  
Paul sighed, “I won’t let them hurt you.”   
  
Emma smiled, “We’ll make it out of here.”   
  
“We will. We just have to stick together.”


	2. Your fault

“PAUL!” Emma screamed as she was dragged out of the cell. Paul ran after her, but the door closed before he reached her. He slammed his fist on the small window, but it didn’t break. Obviously. This was a cell. This was where criminals should be. But he and Emma weren’t criminals.   
  
Paul sat down on his bed. They had been here for a few days now, and the only thing they got was food and water. Nothing else. It was boring, but at least they had gotten a lot of time to talk.   
  
He snapped out of his thoughts when the door of the cell opened. Two aliens came in, Ted and a cop. The cop grabbed his arms and cuffed them behind his back. They forced him to stand up and led him out of the room.   
  
They led him to the sports hall of the police station, where Emma already was, tied to a chair. There was an empty chair on the other side of the room, and the aliens started dragging him towards it, but Paul managed to get away and ran towards Emma. “Emma!” He looked at her, “Are you okay?”   
  
Emma looked down, shaking her head. A tear streamed down her cheek. Two aliens grabbed Paul’s shoulders and dragged him to the other side of the room, they cuffed him to the chair. It only took him a few seconds to figure out that it was bolted to the floor.    
  
He heard Emma scream his name, and he looked at her. She locked eyes with him, she looked terrified. She nodded her head in the direction of where Ted was standing. He was holding a lighter in his hand. Was he going to set this place on fire? But Paul and Emma were stuck and… that’s probably what they want.   
  
But Ted put the lighter in his pocket and walked to Emma. Bill handed him some scissors. Ted started cutting open Emma’s blouse. “Ew! You fucking creep!” she yelled, trying to get away.   
  
“I’m not a creep, sweetheart. I’d do it the normal way, but your hands are stuck.”   
  
Soon enough, Emma was sitting in just her bra. Ted pulled the lighter from his pocket and let the flame touch Emma’s bare skin. She let out a small scream and tried to jerk away, but Ted’s hand on her shoulder kept her in place.   
  
“Emma!” Paul screamed, struggling against the restraints, until he felt a cold piece of metal against his throat. Probably a knife.    
  
The person holding the knife whispered in his ear. “Don’t forget that this is your fault. You’re the one who tricked us.”    
  
And from that moment, Paul sat quietly in his chair, wincing every time he heard Emma scream.   
  
He was led back to the cell before Emma. The cop uncuffed his hands and let him go. After a few minutes, Emma was dragged into the room. Her leg dragged behind her like she had used it too much. They put her down on the bed and Bill laid a hoodie and a bag with ice cubes on the desk. Great, he could at least put that on her burns. Bill and the other aliens left and the door locked again.   
  
Emma was whimpering softly and Paul walked over to her. He kneeled down by her side and inspected the damage. She had one nasty burn on her side, but the rest of them were pretty shallow.   
  
Paul grabbed the ice cubes from the desk. He put a blanket over Emma’s shoulders and grabbed her hand. “This is a bit cold but it’ll take some of the pain away, okay?” Emma nodded. She gritted her teeth as Paul pressed the ice cubes against the burns.   
  
“It’s so cold...” Emma said, shivering.   
  
“I know, Em. It’s okay.” Paul adjusted the blanket so it also fell over Emma’s front, careful that it wouldn’t touch any of the burns.   
  
“No! It’s not okay, Paul!” Emma said, taking a deep breath as Paul removed the ice from her skin. “Don’t you get it? We’re stuck here, and those  _ things  _ are not afraid to be violent. This is torture, Paul. If this is the first thing they did, I don’t even want to know what will happen next. Don’t you watch movies?”   
  
“I’m so sorry, Emma. If I wouldn’t have told you to play along they wouldn’t have found out and this would’ve never happened.”    
  
“And then what? You would’ve watched them kill me?”   
  
“No! I- I just should’ve come up with a better plan.”   
  
“That’s a bit too late now, isn’t it?” Emma sighed. “I’m sorry, this isn’t your fault. I just was so relieved when you walked into my hospital room. I thought we made it out alive. I guess that’s kind of true, but I don’t think you should count getting tortured as living a peaceful life.”   
  
Paul grabbed the hoodie from the desk and helped Emma put it on. It was about three sizes too big, but it was better than nothing. He sat down next to her. “I really didn’t expect you to be alive. I mean, you were bleeding so much and I left you alone. I’m sorry.”   
  
“I didn’t expect you to be alive either. It was selfish of me to send you to the meteor. I guess you could say I didn’t think about the implications.”   
  
Paul chuckled. “But we’re both here. And even though we’re not really safe here, we’re still alive.”   
  
Emma smiled at him. “I guess we are.”


	3. Distractions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul tries to distract Emma from the pain.

Paul paced around the cell nervously. Emma had been taken away a while ago, and he wanted to know what they’d do to her. They had been stuck in here for about a week now, and they had brought them to the sports hall once after they had lit Emma on fire.   
  
He heard screams in the distance and his worry grew. It didn’t help that someone came into the cell and placed supplies to stitch wounds on the desk. “We don’t want her to die... yet,” they said, before leaving the room.   
  
Paul looked at the supplies, a needle, some string, and a tiny bottle of alcohol. He threaded the needle, it took him a few tries because his hands were shaking. He wanted to protect Emma. Hold her in his arms and tell her it would be okay. But it wouldn’t. It wouldn’t be okay. They’d die as soon as those aliens were getting bored of torturing them.   
  
The door unlocked and Emma was thrown inside. She stumbled to the bed and fell on it, clutching her shoulder. Paul immediately crouched down next to her. “Emma?” Emma groaned in response. “What did they do to you?”   
  
With Paul’s help, Emma managed to sit up. Her hoodie was covered in red. “Bill had a knife.” she cried.   
  
Paul bit on his lip. “I’m going to take your hoodie off, okay?” He winced when Emma cried in pain as he pulled the hoodie over her head. “Oh my god, Emma. No wonder they gave me the supplies to patch you up.” A deep cut on her shoulder was surrounded by red.   
  
“Do you even know how to stitch wounds?”   
  
“No,” he answered honestly as he unscrewed the lid of the bottle of alcohol, “But I repaired a pair of jeans once.”   
  
Emma cried softly as Paul poured some alcohol on the cut. They both knew that Emma’s life was in Paul’s hands, and Paul had no idea what he was doing.   
  
“Okay, Emma. I’d offer to hold your hand but I need both of my hands to work.” Paul grabbed the needle of the table. He looked at her, he could tell she was hiding the amount of pain she was in.   
  
Emma took a deep breath as Paul sat down in front of her. “Try not to move, okay? I’m so sorry,” he said. Emma cried out as he pulled the string through her skin. “Anyway, did you have any pets back in Hatchetfield?”   
  
“I’m bleeding to death and you’re thinking about pets? What the fuck, dude?”   
  
“I’m just trying to distract you from the pain,” he said as he made the next stitch.   
  
Emma tensed up, “I didn’t have pets because my landlord wouldn’t allow them. I’d love to have a cat though. I also love dogs, but I don’t want to go outside all the time.”   
  
“I had an aquarium with a few fish. They’re easy to take care of.”   
  
“But they’re boring.”    
  
“They are, but it’s better than nothing.”    
  
Silence filled the room as Paul continued to stitch the wound. “Paul?” Emma spoke after a few minutes, “Thank you.”    
  
“Thank you for what?”    
  
“Just for being so nice to me and for taking care of me.”   
  
Paul shrugged, “It’s my fault we’re here, I’m just trying to make it up to you.”   
  
“How can you still think it’s your fault? You were just trying to save me and I can’t-”   
  
“Emma, they told me it was my fault.”   
  
“Yeah, but they’re assholes.”   
  
“ _ Powerful  _ assholes.”    
  
Emma sighed, “Are you almost done? It hurts.”   
  
“Yeah, I just don’t have any scissors to cut the string.”   
  
Suddenly, the door opened and Ted and Nora came in. They grabbed Paul and cuffed one of his wrists to one of the bars in front of the window. They walked to Emma and harshly pushed her against the wall. She let out a pained scream.    
  
Her eyes widened as they fell on the gun Ted was holding. “EMMA!” Paul screamed, trying to reach her. Ted pulled Emma to her feet and dragged her out of the room. She kicked and screamed, but he kept a firm grip on her.   
  
Nora uncuffed Paul, and he took the opportunity to run out of the cell. He saw Ted drag Emma around a corner and he ran after her.   
  
But it was too late.   
  
**_BANG!_ **


	4. Chapter 4

Paul ran to Emma’s side as the girl fell on her knees, clutching her chest. Ted smirked and walked away. “Emma! Okay, Emma, lie down, okay?” Panic clouded Paul’s mind as he looked at her bloodstained skin. “You’ll be fine, I promise. I just… I’m going to put pressure on it, okay?”   
  
Emma screamed in pain as Paul pressed his hands firmly on the wound. She looked at him, fighting to keep her eyes open. “Paul! Just keep fighting, okay? You’ll be fine without me.”   
  
“No! Emma, stay with me!” His worry grew as her breathing became more labored. “No! Emma! Don’t close your eyes! Just-” he fell silent as Emma’s head dropped sideways.    
  
Tears streamed down Paul’s cheeks as he held her body tightly. But after a few minutes, he stood up. He had to escape. It’s what she would’ve wanted.   
  
He rand trough the police station. It was surprisingly empty. He’d never been here before, so it took him a while to find the exit. What he didn’t expect was that Emma stood there, blue blood oozing from her wounds.   
  
“You have betrayed us,” she spoke. “You lost the woman you cared about. Now you will lose your own life.” She offered him a warm smile. “Come on, we’ll be together. It’s inevitable for us.”   
  
Ted and Bill grabbed Paul from behind as Emma came closer. “Inevitable, inevitable, it’s inevitable.” she sang softly.    
  
“Emma, this isn’t what you wanted. Remember? You didn’t want to sing and dance! You hated that tip song!”   
  
Emma stroked his cheek, “Oh, no, that was the old Emma. This is the new me.” She smirked, before punching him in the face. He was pretty sure he tasted blood. “Relax, it won’t hurt more than that, I promise.”   
  
Ted and Bill forced Paul on his knees and Emma grabbed his tie. “Admit it, you always wanted to kiss me,” Emma said just before their lips met. It was a good kiss until Emma started vomiting in his mouth. Paul gagged at the taste. He tried to pull away and spit it out, but Emma’s hands on his cheeks kept him in place. He could feel his body fighting against the spores, but it wasn’t long before it gave in and he felt exhausted. His eyes closed, and he went limp in Emma’s arms.   
  
The Hive took over the rest of the world in just a few weeks, and they lived happily ever after.


End file.
